novelraw Chapter 247 169: Mysterious Purple Shirt, Inference of the Five-Animal Exercise!
Chapter 247 169: Mysterious Purple Shirt, Inference of the Five-Animal Exercise!
The Thirteen Bird Forms in Five Animals Qigong are the gentlest among them, yet even so, when Su Mu performed a full set now, the pain left his face pale as death.
Beads of sweat the size of soybeans dotted his forehead, and even in the depths of winter, his clothes were soaked through with fine perspiration.
"To think that I have grown this weak…"
Pangs of inhuman pain racked his body, making Su Mu gasp, a self-mocking whisper sounding in his heart. Yet after a short rest, he grit his teeth and continued his cultivation.
After that came the Thirteen Tiger Forms, Nine Deer Forms, Nine Bear Forms, and Nine Ape Forms.
With severed meridians, every movement was unspeakably difficult for Su Mu—each form painstakingly slow, as if time itself had dulled. Yet in that slowness, the pain seemed to fade, and Su Mu became completely absorbed within the practice.
The Five Animals Qigong, which he was more than familiar with, was now so taxing upon rising at dawn that by the time Su Mu finished a complete set, he was unaware that it was already close to noon. To complete the whole routine now took several hours.
Since perfecting the Five Animals Qigong, Su Mu had only ever sped through it for a warm-up. But now forced to quiet his heart and slow his breath, with over one hundred points of comprehension, he began to faintly sense a new understanding—not yet clear, but stirring beneath the surface.
After each session, during his rest, Su Mu would call up his comprehension panel to check on his current state.
[Name: Su Mu (17 years old)]
[Lifespan: 370 years]
[Skills: Five Animals Qigong (Perfection), Seven Dominating Spear Forms (Perfection), Blazing Fire Saber Technique (Perfection), Qingfeng Swordsmanship (Perfection), Tiger Subduing Fist (Perfection), Startled Sparrow Step (Perfection), Torrential Rain Spear Technique (Perfection), Alchemy (Perfection), Small Faceless Transformation Technique (Great Success 98%), Medical Skill (Great Success 79%), Eight-Step Chasing Cicada (Great Success 69%), Feixu Skill (Great Success 65%), Calligraphy (Great Success 55%), Thunder Shock Fist (Great Success 49%), Blood Transformation Technique (Great Success 35%), Gu Technique (Great Success 15%), Artifact Refining (Small Success 15%), Molten Fire Golden Body (Entry-level 55%)]
[Comprehension: 107 (Dragon-and-Phoenix Level)]
"My lifespan is finally stabilized."
Su Mu's eyes flickered. While he was unconscious, not only the Pharmacist but even Zhang Yang, who had cared for him for half a month, had lamented how such grievous injuries could be survived at all, moved by Su Mu's astonishing physique.
Yet sheer physical strength was only part of it; only Su Mu knew his lifespan played a crucial role. Now, his comprehension had reached a fearsome one hundred and seven points.
However, compared with the thirty-nine points gained when first breaking through the Nine Body Tempering Realms—which should have raised his lifespan by nearly forty years—it had only increased by thirty-five. And this, even with the tremendous extension brought by attaining Dragon-and-Phoenix Level comprehension.
The abnormality wasn't that his lifespan no longer soared, but that Su Mu's wounds were so dire they were shaving years off his life.
After the great battle and his ensuing coma, Su Mu discovered that his lifespan had diminished by over a hundred years. Even during his half-month convalescence in the infirmary, it continued to bleed away, finally settling only in recent days.
"All in all, I lost about two hundred years… just assume the rise in lifespan was reduced, and only thirty-five years were added."
Su Mu took it in stride; having passed through the shadow of death, he saw things clearly—this longevity didn't mean he would surely live to such an age.
Like the desperate duel against Yuan Qing: had he failed to endure, even a thousand or ten thousand years of life would have amounted to nothing. Only time used well holds value; otherwise, it's but an illusion.
Besides, Su Mu was but seventeen now, not turning eighteen till after this winter had passed. With more than three hundred years of lifespan remaining, the road ahead was still long.
As long as he controlled his comprehension panel, and could overcome his current predicament, all would resolve itself in time.
"What are two hundred years of lifespan, in the end?"
With that thought, Su Mu closed the comprehension panel and, while resting, drove his innate talent to infer upon the Five Animals Qigong.
One after another, shadowy forms flickered before Su Mu's eyes, and sparks of insight began to flash in his mind.
So the days passed, and in the blink of an eye, three more days went by.
Qingyun City, Forging Workshop.
A commander of the Cyan Cloud Army led a team; over fifty armored Cyan Cloud soldiers waited outside the Forging Workshop, drawing side glances from the passing crowd.
Soon after, Wu Lie and three masters carrying their packs emerged.
"Martial Master Wu, and you three masters—the Cyan Cloud Army's Zhou Hao is here by order of County Magistrate Tao. If everyone's gathered, we can depart now."
Commander Zhou Hao strode forward and clasped his fist in salute, with a burly, dark-browed Thousand Man Commander in tow—himself a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist of the Muscle Strengthening Realm.
Two Seventh-Grade Martial Artists, plus fifty elite silver-armored troops of the Cyan Cloud Army—Wu Lie nodded secretly. He'd felt something was amiss these past few days, but faced with such a powerful escort force, his heart was put at ease.
"Many thanks to Commander Zhou and this brother."
Wu Lie courteously returned the gesture and, in passing, quietly handed over several silver notes. Zhou Hao accepted them without a word, a hint of a smile surfacing at the corner of his mouth.
"Martial Master Wu is too kind; it is our duty."
Once Chen Yuntian, Lin Ruoshui, and Zhao Ju boarded the carriage, Zhou Hao gave a crisp wave of his hand.
"Move out!"
Tao Xingzheng, newly appointed as Qingyun County Magistrate seven years prior, holding the office of Junior Seventh Grade Lower, ruled over all Qingyun County. Their destination was none other than this Magistrate Tao's manor, situated a little over thirty li east of Qingyun City.
Along the way, they encountered several bands of mountain bandits and villains. The Cyan Cloud Army only needed a single charge to slaughter and exterminate them all.
Zhao Ju lifted the curtain and watched as the Cyan Cloud Army dispatched the robbers with contempt—he nodded to himself. He and Wu Lie both felt something fishy about the trip, but after seeing the Cyan Cloud Army's valor, all worries faded from their minds.